So the day before Thanksgiving in 2010 the freshman long jumper at Millersville opted to, in her own words, “tighten up” her bothersome shoulder.

That was no easy surgery however, since Staller, a 2010 Annville-Cleona grad, has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, an inherited disorder marked by extremely loose joints, and in some cases, hyperelastic skin.

For an athlete, having loose joints, and the increased flexibility that results, can be a positive thing. But it can also be a huge negative, as Staller has found.

For starters, most people can assume when they go to bed each night that they won’t injure themselves in their sleep. Not Staller, who could dislocate her shoulder by simply rolling over while catching up on her rest.

So the corrective surgery should have insured the budding long jump star of a long, fruitful athletic career. Not quite so.

An allergic reaction to medication given post surgery caused her to withdraw from school completely last spring. That meant her entire freshman year was wiped out, both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“It was very frustrating,” said Staller of her tumultuous freshman season. “It put me back a while from what I wanted to accomplish.”

The wait, however, has been worth it for Millersville. In the Marauders’ first indoor event of the season, in December, Staller broke the school record in the long jump, going 5.51 meters.

That eclipsed the previous mark of 5.47 meters, set last year by teammate Katherine Lennex.

“It was really exciting, and it felt great,” Staller said. “It was my personal record as well. I tried to bounce back and beat that, but I was focusing more on my technique the rest of the season.”

Yes, that’s right, even after setting a school record, Staller decided she still had more work to do.

“From high school to college I made a lot of changes in jumping technique,” she said. “It’s been a struggle to figure out what would make me better.”

It’s hard to imagine a more successful first collegiate campaign for any track athlete. She also recorded the top Marauder time in the 60-yard dash during indoor season, and her personal best triple jump of 11.17 meters ranks among the 10 best in school history.

And then, just when she thought she found the winning formula, with the indoor PSAC championships coming up in February, Ehlers-Danlos caught up to her again.
The culprit this time was a sprained right ankle.

“The ankle was taped, it would just give out on me,” Staller said. “I just pushed through the rest of indoor season.”

The injury continues to sideline her, as she was unable to compete in either of Millersville’s outdoor season events so far this spring.

Noting that all she can do at this point is continue to strengthen the ankle, Staller’s not giving up without a fight against Ehlers-Danlos. After all, she’s come too far to quit now.

“I had to give up basketball in high school,” she said. “It’s hard to do that, to give up a sport, so I know how that feels. I know I want to keep competing.”

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